Golden Bough Playhouse, Theatre in Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States.

Golden Bough Playhouse is a theatre complex on Monte Verde Street in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, made up of two venues. The Founders Theatre seats 280 and shows both films and live performances; beneath it, the Circle Theatre seats 120 in a theatre-in-the-round layout, with its entrance on Casanova Street. The building dates from 1952 and is the oldest indoor performing arts venue in the town.

Edward G. Kuster opened the Theatre of the Golden Bough on Ocean Avenue in 1924. After it burned in 1935, he moved film operations to his Arts and Crafts Theatre on Monte Verde Street, renaming it Filmarte, and reopened it as the Golden Bough Playhouse in 1940. That theatre burned in 1949, and Kuster built the present playhouse in 1952.

Pacific Repertory Theatre has operated this venue since 1994, bringing professional plays and productions to local audiences and visitors. The space serves as a gathering place for the community to experience live theater throughout the year.

The complex sits on Monte Verde Street, with the Circle Theatre's entrance around the corner on Casanova Street. The Circle Theatre occupies the lower level, so reach it by internal stairs from the Founders Theatre. Pacific Repertory Theatre carried out restoration and renovation work between 2011 and 2024.

The name draws from Roman mythology, where a golden bough allowed Aeneas to journey into the underworld. This classical reference echoes the journey through imaginary worlds that happens on stage.